Small Blessings | Jess Kamm Photography

As we enter into 2019 we are thankful for so many small blessings. The most important are the little bundles of joy that fill our hearts with warmth.

What to expect as a newborn parent?

Newborn parents are filled with joy and pure bliss. While it is the most exciting time of your life, it can also be the most sleep deprived time of your life. The best advice given to me was to sleep when the baby sleeps, it’s the best way to get rest and not burn out. Enjoy every moment you have because these sweet early moments as a newborn quickly evolve. Be sure to ask for support and involve family and friends whenever possible. Whether we realize it or not our family and friends are building memories with our babies also. Remember, it takes a village so be open to receiving help in the transition of being a new parent.

What a moment!

One great way of capturing all the fleeing moments is with photography. It’s true what they say a picture is worth a thousand words. Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. Taking a picture freezes these moments for a lifetime.

At Jess Kamm Photography we are here to help you capture all your most precious moments. We thrive on making baby and family very comfortable. We have a team of professionals that work together to make sure your family has the best experience. When setting up the scene we want to make sure that first and foremost the baby is completely comfortable. While prepping for beautiful Baby M (pictured above) we made sure the setting was warm and inviting. Props and personal items also play an important role in the scene. In this photo we have a cute hand knit bear. Make sure you communicate with your photographer to come up with the best collaboration for the best picture possible.

Ways to remember the small blessings!

As we enter into 2019 remember this is the best time of year to get all your photos together to create a beautiful keepsake album of all your best memories from 2018. Photos also make the best gifts for all the upcoming holidays: Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and don’t forget Valentine’s Day is right around the corner! If you need any ideas just look at the Jess Kamm Photography Gallery for inspiration. We look forward to seeing you as we head into one of the best years yet!

Milestone Sessions

Seeing them grow — this is one of my favorite aspects of our milestone sessions, since we brought them back last year. We meet most of our wonderful (baby) clients when they are about one week old. {Fun fact: Newborn pictures are taken during the first two weeks after the baby is born.} Our first love will always be cuddling on all the newborn babies and capturing the first images of your precious bundles of joy…but it is so much fun having them back for a sitting up session, around seven months, to see how much they’ve grown! Recently we caught up with Gavin in our studio for his milestone session! It was wonderful chatting with his mom about all the great new things he’s learning and getting into…including all his big sister’s stuff. Reminiscing about how tiny and small he was just a few month ago, contrasted with his session today…with all his chubby rolls and sweet smiles, including those precious dimples. *swoon*

When to book?

Instead of waiting for a newborn brother or sister to come along to see all of our wonderful families again, because that is just too much time to wait, we would love to catch up with you and your family at one of our milestone sessions. It is the perfect time to capture your little one in all their adorable sweetness, before they start crawling…or walking away. Parents and siblings welcome!

How to book?

Contact us at studio@jesskamm.com when your little one is around six months old, so that we can get you on the schedule right when they begin to crawl and can sit upindependently.

In the meantime…

Enjoy all of these sweet pictures of Gavin at his latest (sitting up) milestone session. Can’t get enough of all the cuteness? Feel free to check out little Beau’s sitting up sessionas well. If you haven’t already, please subscribe to our blog so you can see the latest sessions and studio updates from Jess Kamm Photography.

Atlanta Baby Photographer | What to Expect

You know what can be a real downer when it comes to prepping for your next professional photography session? The stress of not knowing exactly what you need to prepare.

So, I am here with some quick highlights to help that night before prep session be a little less hectic.

What should you wear?

Putting together an outfit for your shoot can be stressful, but let me just tell you – simplicity is key. Contrary to what is often believed, more formal ensembles do not usually turn out well. If you’re lost, just know that you are not alone. Most people are unsure of how to dress for a shoot. Luckily, at Jess Kamm Photography, we take a lot of the guessing games out of the equation by providing our clients with a lot of the outfits you see in our photos. We have everything from maternity dresses, men’s shirts, toddler outfits and body wraps for baby and mom on demand in the studio.

If you want to bring your own clothing, no problem. Just ensure to pick items that are very neutral and avoid heavy patterns. The darker the skin tone, the more wiggle room there is for darker colors, like dark blue, black or brown. The lighter the skin color, we have found that whites and light blues or greens work best. Take a look above at mom and big sister, for example. Their simple tank and dress don’t take away from the shots and blend well with the color schemes that were chosen. Are you melting? Because I’m melting.

What should you pack?

Extra food! Sessions normally take up to five hours, so I always say bring more than you think you need to feed everyone – baby, mom, dad and anyone else that is in your party. The worst thing is when baby starts to get hungry towards the end of our time together and refuses to sleep. Or if dad starts to get hungry and anxious, and baby senses that, too. Just like any scenario in life, if we’re all fed, we’re happy – right?

Make a day of it.

Your newborn, baby or maternity session is a time devoted to you and your family – relish in it. I always advise families against scheduling any appointments after their session, because watching the clock can take away from the joy of these few hours. A little down time to celebrate this new portion of life is good for the soul. Not to mention, baby can sense your feelings. So, if you’re biting your nails, worried about being somewhere on time, baby won’t sleep. The photos happen once in a babies lifetime. So, the most perfect day is what we’re aiming for, right?

As usual, once you book with us, we can answer any and all questions you may have. We look forward to meeting you and your little bundle.

Our Gift to You | Atlanta Newborn Photography (2018)

Someone recently said to me, “I bet newborn photography can often become monotonous. So, what goes through your mind while shooting? Editing?”

My answer: I imagine the family’s face when they see these final shots of their most perfect gift.

I would never look at anything we do as monotonous. I mean, look at what who we get to photograph. Have you ever seen anything more beautiful that baby girl above? Rather, I would say it is all a part of the process leading up to the big moment at the end – handing over these beautiful photos for a family to hold on to forever. To put it into perspective: imagine a time when you found the most wonderful gift for a loved one of yours. Along with it, you probably bought the best wrapping paper, a fitting card for the occasion and because you knew how much they were going to love it, thought numerous times about giving it to them early. That’s how we feel every. single. day.

We all yield a divine gift and for most of us, those gifts lead to certain professions – to our art, if you will. My art is to memorialize the gift of new life. From the moment our darling babies debut, they begin to change. What they look like at two weeks (typically the time frame in which we work) will resemble very little of what they look like a few months down the road. So for us, we capture those little details for you. As a parent, you will always be able to remember the way you felt when they were that little, but you won’t be able to recall the bow of his lip or the curvature of her lashes. With these photos, you will. Can you imagine the feels?!

That’s why it is so important to not only have these pictures taken, but to have them printed and hung in your home. Can you see it like I see it? Raising your tribe in a house filled with toys, grade school art and of course, photos of your littles when they were at their tiniest. Sounds like a cozy, love-filled Heaven, right?

I love playing “Who’s Who” with my three girls’ and their newborn photos. We giggle over the similarity of their eyes or the difference in their smiles. They rarely guess it right, but the fun of it all never ceases. Heidi’s little one, Sloan, loves to look at her newborn photos and tell her mommy about when she was a baby. All four of them look so different now and it’s turned into such a special time spent in each of our homes.

Creating the Perfect Photo | Atlanta Baby Photography

In the land of baby photography, there are so many avenues in which we, as photographers, are required to familiarize ourselves with. Each one filled with questions like, “What lighting do we use?”, “Where should we purchase our props?”, and “How many different type of blankets do we need?,” and the list continues for about 10 more miles, I assure you. Out of all of the factors that come into play, there are three that are of the upmost importance:

The Family

At the beginning of Jess Kamm Photography, once question I initially pinned down was, “How do I want to go about making each session unique?” The answer to that was simple – I wanted the families in on the brainstorming! After a session is booked, we get together with our clients for guidance on how to customize their photos to fit their homes and preferences. This allows us to learn which colors the family prefers, what positions they would love to have the baby captured in, and allow them to browse through ALL of our props to choose the ones they love most. We even discuss the color palettes found within their home to ensure the photos blend beautifully with what is already there.

Side note: At Jess Kamm, our style is very organic, meaning there is a natural hue to all of our tones. Adding texture and color into each photo is one of our favorite things to do, but never so much that it distracts from the real beauty – the darling baby.

The Session

When the big day came for Baby G (pictured above) to make his camera debut, all of the groundwork has been laid, allowing us to focus on what we do best – capturing the most beautiful keepsakes to last a lifetime. The studio was cozy and warm, the sound machine was rolling and our professional touch had been added to all the ideas we discussed with his family prior – all the ingredients required for a magical day! Our little, wild-haired hunk refused to sleep for the first portion of the session, but he soon grew bored of my face and camera lens, and decided a snooze sounded like more fun. A few wide awake photos can be great, because they showcase a little of the babies’ personality and add variety.

Love for it all

Apart from all else, we adore what we do – and that is crucial. You can plan the perfect poses and choose the coziest blanket, but if you heart is not in it, it will show. Photography IS our heart’s work. We are so grateful for the time we are able to spend with each family, learning about one another and gifting them with a piece to fill their homes with. There is nothing quite like it.